The Federal Government has intervened in the ongoing dispute between the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) and Dangote Petroleum Refinery, summoning both parties to an emergency conciliation meeting.
The Minister of Labour and Employment, Maigari Dingyadi, said the meeting would be held on Monday at the ministry’s headquarters in Abuja.
Dingyadi, through the ministry’s spokesperson Patience Onuobia, appealed to PENGASSAN to reconsider its nationwide strike directive, warning that any industrial action would take a heavy toll on the economy.
“The Ministry of Labour and Employment, through the Director of Trade Union Services and Industrial Relations, has extended invitations to the leadership of PENGASSAN and the management of Dangote Refinery to attend a conciliation meeting in my office on Monday,” the Minister said.
He added: “I appeal to both parties to be mindful of the importance of the petroleum sector to the country, being the core of her economy. A strike will not only lead to heavy revenue losses but also cause more hardship for Nigerians. Consequentially, it will have adverse impacts on both economic stability and national security.”
Naijaonpoint reports that the row between PENGASSAN and Dangote Refinery escalated on Sunday, September 28, 2025, after the union directed all its members across the country to withdraw their services, following the reported sack of at least 800 workers.
The development, union leaders said, amounted to a direct attack on workers’ rights and the freedom of association, after staff joined PENGASSAN en masse at the refinery.
The refinery’s management, however, insists that the dismissals were part of an internal restructuring exercise.
The crisis between PENGASSAN and Dangote has been building up for months. The refinery had resisted unionisation efforts by its workers, sparking accusations of anti-labour practices.
In September 2025, the dispute escalated when Dangote Refinery abruptly terminated the employment of hundreds of Nigerian workers, just days after a majority of them had joined PENGASSAN.
The union responded with threats of a nationwide strike, accusing the refinery of breaching Nigeria’s labour laws and undermining workers’ constitutional right to belong to a union.
Naijaonpoint reports that PENGASSAN, one of Nigeria’s most powerful oil and gas unions with branches across all major petroleum companies, has historically played a decisive role in labour disputes, often bringing the nation’s oil sector to a standstill when in confrontation with employers or government.
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